In battles for attention, influence and control, these are methods of the losers. It is only a matter of time.

That Graham, Inhof and Co., play the game shows that they are so narcissistic they do not see which way the wind is blowing. And Cruze? He is not a bright bulb and will not survive the next election.

As for Ricks Foreign Policy piece? It was filled with wishful thinking, projection and distortion.

There may have been real reasons to question Hagel, but allegiance to a foreign country is not one of them, and Flournoy has zip chance of a nomination. That Ricks concludes with his case for the apparatchik and gopher of the beltway says it all about his pathetic arguments.

Montrealer, I still have a hard time believing they would be willing to sacrifice their civilians in such a barbaric act.

Please do not be delusional. Governments sacrifice their own all the time under the ideas that is it best for god and country. How many young people sent into useless wars? Where many young men (women on the way) die horrible deaths, or survive forever damaged with no legs or arms.

What is the difference between than and quickly blowing up a few for a bigger cause?

If Israel can get Europe to declare Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization it is worth it big time to the Israeli government.

Moose, so the NRA Institute for Legislative Action has compiled a hit list of organizations, individuals and firms, including church and religious groups to go after. That list is like.....everyone. Am going to have to think about what that means.

As for the Anti-Israel lobby? That's a new one. What is their name? Where is their office?

If you can bear to watch Lindsay's performance again, you'll notice that he could not bring himself to look at Hagel when firing insipid questions at him. He was also squirming in his seat like he needed to rush to the toilet.

It was really bad style for a litigator, showing faux outrage. Totally weak.

He didn't really want to have any real information from Hagel. Lindsay just wanted to show his masters that he was barking and biting just as they ordered him.

Those questions asked did not come from Lindsay or his staff, but were prepared by visitors to his office.

"I want to thank the Emergency Committee for Israel, Sheldon Adelson, and the Senate Armed Service Committee for providing such a compelling vindication of our views....I am sometimes asked if I have any regrets about publishing our book. As of today, my only regret is that it isn't being published now. After the humiliations that Obama has endured at the hands of the lobby and now the Hagel circus, we'd sell even more copies and we wouldn't face nearly as much ill-informed criticism. "

Phil, I think you are giving him a bit too much credit. He might be relatively intelligent (albeit with NO character or humanity) but he came across as a terrible prosecutor.

Prosecutors I know found his show pathetic. He did not come across as credible, but faux. A good prosecutor looks his subject in the eye, speaks slowly and clearly. Let's statements drop like bombs in the room. Gives his subject a chance to speak and to walk into new traps. A prosecutor would never squirm in his chair as Lindsay did the entire time.

Hagel did not squirm, but Lindsay did. Take a look at the video.

Lindsay looked like he was just reading the script that was given to him as fast as he could. No real prosecutor would call his show "brilliant."

MRW, interesting post. And yes the very long period of a strong and integrated position of Jewish culture and life Jews had in Spain (until the Church got all crazy and paranoid) and in the Ottoman empire is a repressed history.

That does not fit the narrative. Sadly, for all, and especially for Jews, this history is repressed.

I don’t want to get into debating Christian theology... JeffB, right you should not go there. You just demonstrated you are absolutely clueless about Christianity and Catholicism or Pentecostalism.

In spite of ignorance, you make sweeping statements on Christianity as if they were facts. (Another tactic of framing.) This woeful ignorance is the basis of your argument where it seems your are claiming that a form of fundamentalism is supportive of Zionism.

And this form of Christianity is soon to take over Catholicism as the largest organized Christian Church. (Then you go on to paint Catholicism as an end-of -times" theology.)

The fastest growing regions of Catholics is in the US South. (Home to the largest Baptist and Methodist population.) " The Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, for instance, is dealing with the twin facts that over 95 percent of its Catholics were not born in that state and that, in the past 15 years, more Spanish-speaking people have settled in this state than in any other state in the country. " http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/May2007/Feature3.asp

Charismatic Christianity or Pentecostalism is fragmented, and there are no reliable statistics on the growing population. "While the predominantly white U.S. Pentecostal denominations have seen their growth rates level off in recent years, non-white churches are exploding. This is especially true for Hispanic congregations." http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/august/newkindpentecostal.html?start=3

This is a growing population, but not one with concerns for Israel, but rather immediate and grave social concerns in their own communities -- poverty, drug and human trafficking, etc.

Zionists will face increasing challenges getting Charismatic-Pentecostalism to adopt the Zionist enterprise as their own.

Traditional Catholicism does not adopt the Bible as literal text, but as a symbolic, inspired text. The rapture gig will not fly with that group.

"small group of Leftist" is framing. the mark of a dishonest question as it frames the answer before it is given. Especially using the subjective term, "Leftist" to describe those who are critical if the Zionist project.

Most Americans, like most everywhere, do not care. There is, however, a growing group across all walks if life that is critical, even sickened, by the Zionist enterprise.

Supporters of Zionism are surely found among Evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. But even this group is now beginning to question their support.

This Kentucky newspaper opinion piece is evidence of this. Recent personal experiences in the "heartland" also point to that.

Recognition – de facto or de jure?: (de facto – facts on the ground) – (de jure – in law).
A State must exist before a State Government can be instituted. The territories must be defined in order for other Nations to know the extent of the Sovereignty being declared and the declaring entity must have full control over those territories. (Independence)
...
Statements made by the Jewish Agency to the UN/UNSC prior to recognition in respect to UNGA res 181 made it quite clear The Jewish Agency was going to abide by UNGA res 181. Recognitions were based on the notion that Israel accepted UNGA res 181 and the Israeli Government’s pleas for recognition to states.

Examples of recognition :
USA 15 May 1948 “… as an independent republic within frontiers approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution of November 29, 1947…”

So apparently recognition was granted under what proved to be a false pretense. And as the US gave recognition within frontiers approved the the GA of the UN...it was a conditional recognition. These conditions have NEVER been met.

I think this shows there really is no rule of law. It is just a scheme to make us believe there is law. Might makes right. Back to tribal rules.

Hostage, thank you. as we see, the language and intent of that pact did not hold up long. Does Israel accept the Armitice line/Borders as its own?

From what I understand, which not not be correct, is that the reason the US and Israel do not have a formal treaty of alliance is because it has not declared borders.

So if , for example, the US were to come to the aid and defense of Israel, it is not quit impossible as it has no declared borders. Where would defense start and stop? Ergo no treaty of alliance. Isael is therefore not an ally. Technicalities......

The US and Israel have strategic agreements, but no alliance. Israel does not see it in their interest as the Jewish Weekly article explains. And this has not changed.

Stating that they do or telling us what they can do does not change the reality.

While Japan may dispute some territories with China and Russia, it does agree with the international community on its own declared borders. Israel does not have internationaly accepted declared borders. This makes an Alliance with Israel and all the implications and responsibilities that come with an alliance impossible.

john h. Israel never declared it's complete borders. Still to be be determined, the Zionist project asserts.

This is the reason Israel is not and cannot officially be an ally of the USA. The two states/countries, have never signed an alliance. Because without complete borders it is an impossibility for Israel to do so.

I am sure Hostage can give us a more qualified answer on this subject.

It is ALWAYS about politics and power. Every conflict attributed to religions or groups, or whatever, when examined closely itbis really about power, economics associated with power and control. It is never really about religion.

As for the Inqusition (which I've mentioned here before) Jews were not expelled, but requested and received a Papal Bull to leave. Jews has a very high position in Spain before the insanity of the Inqusition period, and court advisors to Isabella and Ferdinand were Jewish.

They knew what was going down and got permission the leave under protection of the crown. Arabanel, right hand advisor to Isabella was also a new age mystic of the times and wanted to organize and delay the "expulsion" with the same biblical date of the fall of the temple to give, what was really a tragic event, biblical significance for the Jewish people.

There were many many more Muslims tranferred, tortured and expelled during the Inqusition than Jews of Spain. Yet this event is not incorporated into Muslim religion or culture.

Jews who left Spain went to various parts of Europe and later the New World. They were welcomed into the Balkans under Turkish administration. The first Synagogues in Sarajevo were built under sponsorship of The Turks for the Jews of Spain. The Ottomans welcomed the Jews as they were to bring moderninity, trade etc. to the region. And they did.

The American South was first settled in an organized way by Jews who were decendants of those who left Spain. The first (or second?) Synagogue of North America being in Charelston.

There is so much more -- as the Prussian Kings granting lands to Jewish communities from the East to come, farm and build.

It is sad that these global developmensts and cooperations with others are not celebrated. And instead that victimology is adopted as a self identity.

We can all do that.

Sorry about this long post, but it reminds me of when working in Sarajevo and there was a well-intentioned effort to put a plaque or memorial to the women and girls who has suffered so horribly in a stadium at the hands of Serbs. They had it taken down, as the persecuted victim of others was not the self identity they wanted to adopt or pass along.

"Home is not a rational choice." This was produced yesterday on American Public Radio in NC. I have not listend to all of it, but striking is that the producer brings to life the absolute "insanity" (to use his own word he repeats over and over) of the conflict, and that he allows humanity for both sides. (A new view in American media.)

He shows there are groups of Palestinians and Israelis working together to rise above the insanity of the conflict.

This is not great big NPR, but smaller public radio in Minnesota, with it's affiliate in North Carolina. There is no affiliate station in New York City. Most are in the Northern Midwest.

Zionist ideologies will not be given up in centers of power like NY or D.C. or education mills for the elite. There is too much vested interest in a status quo and that could explain why a supposedly informed and intelligent 22-year-old could have willfully ignored the forces behind the Lebanon invasion -- a turning point for many thinking people.

The broadcast above is really worth a listen. It is a taste of voices to come.

I spend a good bit of time in fly over country. Not just St. Louis or Kansas City. Do not underestimate the growing sentiment that something is wrong with the milataristic unending loyalty to a foreign country.

Nut, that is not true. Under Kohl (as pointed out below) there was a push to increase immigration back into Germany from decendants of Germany. This meant many Volga Germans, or "White Russians." There was a flood of Jewish Russian/Germans into Germany.

Israel then put tons of pressure onto Germany to end this policy. Which Germany immedialtely did. This would assure immigration to Isael over Germany.

The mass migration of Jews from the former Soviet Union to Germany likely will come to a swift end with the introduction of a new law drawn up by Germany’s 16-state governments.

is my comment to yonah moderated out? Here goes another try: at least yonah finaly came out with what he wanted to say all along complete with name calling -- "stupid spoiled old man ..." Thanks for the honesty of your thoughts. Why didn't you just say that from the start?

Meanwhile you might want to explore the hypersensitivity to single words you come across, which cause reaction to the words only, and prevent absorbing a complete text and context.

Yonah, at least you've come clean and stated your honest thoughts and expressed it with entlightened name calling. stupid spoiled old man... instead of haranging on his Christianity or use of a word.

As for your hyper sensitivity to single words causing you to react to a word instead of a column, or the whole of a message: you might want to come to terms with this condition you have shared.

It prevents understanding, leads to a cripling of the mind. Not only things like the angry bitterness to an elderly man who used a word you are sensitive to, but as we see here, causes you to see things and meanings that are simply not there.

This can lead to a mutiple of psychiatric conditions. I am not ridiculing, but serious. You might want to seek professional help.

Keith, Yonah was not honest. He was picking at irrelevant straws for another agenda. And then dug himself in.

It is not about the use of the word Satanic -- which Kovel also used in his earlier writings here.

You ask, How would the followers of a Satanic ideology be desribed?

Brainwashed, misguided, unfortunate.

Rational people can seperate the humanity of an individual from their ideologies. I grew up surrounded by ideologies that are abhorent, but these neighbors and family members were not "Satanic." Yet their beliefs and prejudices were evil, but we can, afterall, overcome evil.

Upon the death of MLK, my white educated neighbors thought that was a good thing he was gone. They were not Satanic orbevil people, but totally misguided, brainwashed by culture to support a evil.

I was a kid, but sad to hear the cheers, but did not know why I was sad.

Your comment and comments from yonah reminded me of that sadness then when we heard the news and so many cheered.

Schmuel, Thanks for the correction -- his critique of Judaism as superficial. Conversion.....or critique, that is irrelevant. Evoking another poster's comments (yours) out of context to try and give weight to his attempt to discredit Kovel is cheap, dishonest. He dishonestly used you.

Personaly I do not like the language "Satanic," but for other reasons, which are not relevant to Kovel's argument.

Yonah takes something irrelevant and is working hard to try and discredit Kovel, and with that his argument on Zionism.

no yonah, you are being disengenuous. You singled out a specific and respected poster to remind Annie that he judged Kovel's conversion to be superficial. To discredit Kovel. And that was your purpose.

But maybe he wanted to hit home the idea that to mix Judaism (and as it should be) with Zio logic is simply evil.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. ...

When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

No serious geneticist would lay claim to the idea of the "Jew Gene" eventhough the Israeli government funds pretend science for this search and claims Cohen and Levy gene sequence. (Which is...surprise surprise...found in many othe population groups that are not Jewish and not From the Middle East. I guess it can be summed up by the Johns Hopkins researcher's statement:

"To Elhaik, there is no uniquely Jewish gene because each human being is a genetic amalgam, and no population group has ever lived in total isolation from other population groups."

You are projecting your stereotype or prejudice and perhaps ignorance of Westerners? That’s the Western stereotype, isn’t it?

There are lots of shepards around me (one cares for my animals when I am away) and they live in farms with families and have for generations, have fields and hay and all that, and herd sheep. They are shepards.

Donald, Israel was founded on Zionist ideas of a right to return. A "right" based on Bronze age symbolic language and other myths. Myths and stories no different than Ayrian sagas or Alpine Italian heros drummed up Euro faschists used to establish their "rights" over others.

Kathleen, I have no idea on Hagel. None of us really do. But Kerry is a complete oportunist with all the ugly features. He will say and do anything at all to position himself. He really is another Hillary. But his job will be to execute US foreign policy, whatever that is, and he will likely do that competently enough.

OMG, the 'ole hasbarim is dragged out. The polls! The polls! The wishes of the American people, blah blah....Get a grip.

Most people in the US don't even know where Israel is, let alone even care one iota about it. Especially in North Carolina, which has almost no Jews. (South Carolina is a bit different with one of the original Jewish communities of North America including one of the first temples in the "holy city" of Charleston, which had synagogues and churches, but forbade Catholics in the early days.)

American, I've registered my calls. These aids take all kinds of calls all day and sometimes from nut cases. So one has to be kind to whoever is tasked with answering that phone. I asked if my opinion would be registered and assured it would be.

Have you called Corker yet? AIPAC loves him and visits his often often and early.

To "Prostitute" (verb) oneself has nothing to do with Prostitutes and their profession. It just means to sell or submit oneself out to others. Often, but not always, at the expense or integrity of only oneself.

To lay prostrate, one would lie flat. A monk, for example, might lie prostrate in prayer with his head down to symbolize complete submission to a higher spirituality.

This was a very good headline; with strong imagery of complete submission to a greater power.

It is admirable that you take the time to make the calls. The aids in those offices answering the phones are mostly very young interns. And often over their head. But the calls are important and noted.

That could be part of it. Flyover country did have a progressive tradition at one time. And many still do like to think of themselves as independent thinkers. And yes, the heartland is angry, real angry about their elected officials prostrating themselves first to the interest of a foreign country.

But from reports, it appears that Hagel had to go kiss the ring and promise to say the right things re Israel and be willing to send Americans to their death in battle against Iran. All that to first make Schumer, Corker and Grahm (all East coast senators) happy.

With that they say they will likely approve him. But flyover country is still angry.

my goodness! Yes memory lane. Pre 1984 I worked with DARPA staff @ a Signal Command. A remote "foreign" node, a dusty office with green walls and metal desks, no windows. Live texting and testing with Murray Hill and "real people" working with MITRE or Bell seemed a miracle back then.

And coming clean and addressing the Israeli nuclear arsenal will have to be a part of any negotiated peace in the region. That would be a given. But Israel has no intention ever of allowing that and this is the reason the nuclear capacity remains unrevealed and closed to international inspection.

It is the catch 22 and another reason why in the mind of fanatics there is no motivation ever to create any conditions to allow negotiations.

But the US allowed this condition and is perhaps blackmailed into a position of it's own destruction.

Dan, well said. But the thing about denizens of "flyover states?" For those of us with roots in the flyover country or living there, better might be simply their tune so as not to become compared to white trash. PERIOD.

Remnick is bringing down the curtain on Zionism. It began as a secular movement to create a democracy, now it's devolved into the Tea Party, a religious ideology about the bible and the land, but a Tea Party with a major role in governing the country.

It is a fanatical tea party soon to have their hands on nukes. This is a real threat to Israel and the world, and not Nutiyahoo's "This is a Bomb"Iran cartoon threats at the U.N.

Hagel made his fortune in the IT industry and this included stakes in optical recognition and voting machines. Public knowledge.

His public filings reported disinvestment in those units in 2005. Before running he removed himself from the boards. In hinsight, yes, I think all would agree he should have disinvested before his first Senate run. But in the 90's there was not the public perception of possible problems with the machines.

As the NYT editorial of 2004 states:

Defeated candidates who think they were robbed are nothing new in American politics. But modern technology is creating a whole new generation of conspiracy theories -- easy to imagine and, unless we're careful, impossible to disprove.

"The Hill" also covered the controversy at the time. You can research it.

The need to belong and be accepted by the group is a sort of primi-instict/emotion. Like fear. Deep in us (and other animals). Without it, our survival chances are lower. Rejection by the immediate social unit can be perilous, even in today's world. For most of us in the west that means the immediate family, but for some and in other cultures this extends beyond the family to the community or "tribe."

Some try and raise their children to be resilient, confident and trusting in themselves, critical truthful thinkers; and some raise their children only to seek the approval of others for their sense of worth. I guess that is where emotional resilience starts or stops.

And for survival in the modern world with states instead of small tribes? The madness of group-think can be deadly.

Before there was a concept of State, there were tribes and clans. Loyalty to the idea of a tribe reigns. Schumer believes what he and the rest of the tribe is told to believe. That is sadly how most (but not all) people operate.

They (We) think what we are told to think. And if it is wrapped in the pressures of tribal loyalty, no questions asked.

So I guess he really does believe it because he wants to believe it. A primal matter of survival.

But your information is strange and simply wrong. Does it come from Wikipedia? I live and have lived in these countries. A Stuttgarter or Bavarian cannot understand a Basler or Züricher speaking the local dialects. We won't even get into the German spoken in Wallis. But they are all GERMAN language dialects, each spiced with their own words. And so is Yiddish a German dialect, sprinkled with original words or those of other origins.

To say that Goethe (who lived in Saxony) and spoke a very high German (but probably also the Saxon dialect) had to learn Yiddish to understand it means nothing! It is no different from a banker from Frankfurt (central Germany) who attends courses to learn the spoken Swiss German while in Zürich. And they do!

And that But strictly only very few people usually older ones speak a strong dialect today, since it is not used in media or very, very rarely. Is simply nonsense.

Visit a Kindergarten in Basel or Lucern.
The schools only switch to instruction in universal high German in the upper grades. And at some schools, not even then.

I think you speak German, right? Have you heard the Yiddish language/dialect, or whatever we want to categorize it. (Not even linguists can agree on that yet.) Every German speaker will understand it even more easily than Swiss German dialects. (Which I guess could also be called seperate,but related languages.)

Yet Yiddish is a language with German grammar and vocabulary, but sprinkled with some Slavic, Romance and Hebrew words.

Just as English has French or German words, but it is still the English language.

It is an old German dialect that was preserved and evolved in Jewish Communities of Eastern Europe. By "old" German, I mean that much of it is likely to be the same sort of German spoken in the early middle ages in Eastern Europe and the Volga.

Nobody knows or can even say what influences were on the language to start with -- Slavic, Hebrew, whatever.

It would be natural that Hebrew words would work their way into Yiddish German from religious text into the spoken language.

It is of great interest because it was spoken across so many regions and an old preserved -- and living -- dialect/language.

Serious or not, it is a classic in cult-like brainwashing methods. Those kids are wound up to do ANYTHING they are told to do.

As for the "old guy with white hair who said there are no Palestinians." He is not just any 'ole rich guy but, Steinhardt was a major force in the financial hedge fund world a few years back. When he spoke the markets listened.

As for his comment: it was either completely ignorant (which he might be in spite of his expensive ivy education) or senile.

Interesting....that comment really stuck out. It came across as stupid, weak thought.

Not only because comments exactly like this, and variants of it are also found in anti-Hagel commentary, but because it reveals a lack of sophistication and inability to think beyond simplistic labels. It shows a need for boxes and their labels to understand and navigate the world. An crude crutch when you can't think beyond, or have no real understanding anyway.

Symbolic labels are mostly filled pre-packaged associations and prejudices. So they are pinned onto people and groups by writers/speakers (Phil in this case) to create an association in the mind of the reader. Here the writer goes even further and does the thinking for the reader, should the reader be on a different wave length and fail to make the same association meant by the writer/speaker.

Ok, we are back on THAT subject again. But what can you do? Not use the expression? That would be anti-Semantic, I think.

Nope, using the expression is "anti SeMANtic."

Semantic meaning that symbolic language conveys meaning. And since SeMITic was hijacked solely to create a symbolic false identity by a bunch of Europeans to try and justify colonization of portion of the ME, using it is really anti SEMANtic. It is using language to create an alter reality, to justify wrong.

Purge the awful word from your vocabulary for all the reasons Freddy V states. Relegate it to the dust bin where it belongs with the N word as despicable SEMANtics.

In time, that ugly expression will not be uttered in polite company and those who use it will be revealed as mistaken, misguided or unhinged fanatics behind a ethno colonial enterprise.

That revolting and groveling display in Congress -- with Bibi's lying, fear mongering "They-could-put-a-bomb-anywhere" speech with Sen. Cantor strutting in the background and Congress jumping to their feet and clapping over and over again in unison -- was a low point for the US and any semblance of national dignity.

Even the Israeli press concluded at the time: Last night we saw that the Americans will buy anything, or at least their applauding legislators will.

A low point for the US and the peak for Netanyahu and his self understanding? Maybe. But I tend to agree with the Israeli press that that display showed us that the US Congress will buy anything. I'd add to that especially if it is packaged right and there is $$ behind it.

If the Emergency Committee for Israel owns the domain name "chuckhagel.com" they could be in deep legal waters for not only domain squatting but also intentional identity misrepresentation. Especially that of a private individual, which Hagel still is.

This would say the EC for Israel is not smart and that Hagel is too busy with other things for a vanity domain registration.

Well....Lindsay made it clear the opposition to Hagel's nomination is all about Israel and not about the U.S and Department of Defense. That message does not go over well with anyone, including Israeli's with their heads screwed on.

Wonder why Cindy did not ask Graham if he has greater concerns for Israel or the U.S? He opened the door for that question. She let him rant Israel....Israel.....Israel and make accusations of the man without even backing them up.

The Jews of Germany vehemently rejected Zionism in the early days. In fact they wouldn't even allow the first Zionist congress to be held in Germany. So it was held across the border in a Casino in Basel.

Frank has too much mud on his shoes. Freddie Mac, anyone? His mother's Boston charity for low income housing? The conflicts are too deep and he had a direct hand in the corruption of US housing/lending legislation.

This is what disqualifies him for the seat, and I suspect will be a reason that the govenor of MA will not give him the nod.

While not violence, a child of mine (now a young adult) experienced extreme, even horrific, humiliation at a border crossing. His crime? He had visited a Palestinian family. What was he to do about it? File a complaint? Ha ha.

The irony? He was on his way to Jerusalem to spend the weekend with a former high school friend who was off from his IDF duty.

All of my info comes from Flournoy’s wikipedia entry. That explains it.

Dick Lugar would be better. Dick Lugar is much too old and struggled terribly in his last term. His own aids would have to wind him up in the morning and cover for him.

I never said Hagel was outside Beltway. I never said anything about him. I said Flournoy is inside the Beltway bubble. And she is!

I said there are some considerations on a need to downsize the pentagon moving forward. As much of the anti Hagel editorials remind us, he was only a two term Senator, he is a "Midwesterner," he was just a businessman,etc. Well, if we like that or not, it is beside the point as these are attributes Obama and others might be looking for over a career Pentagon insider.

It always amuses me when I am reminded that political partisans lack a sense of irony. While debating, infering that I am dim in the brain (could be) and other posters here as well is irony??

hophmi, nope I did not look her up and knew nothing about her. Yup, I am not a deep thinker.

But you were making the argument for her because simply you feel she is the best person for the job and because of gender.

Now that you list all her accomplishments and positions, you've qualified your statement.

So now I know a bit more. She seems to be policy wonk and intellectual. Very inside the beltway. the statement you quote above is generic. What any Pentagon wonk would say. It really tells us nothing about her thinking.

I am not rooting for anyone, but from what you share here, this does not make her more or less qualified than many others in that DC bubble.

Hop, the Pentagon is facing huge challenges over the next decade. It will be downsized. I suspect that Obama and others are considering someone outside of the Pentagon to get that ball rolling, as it may simply not be a possible task for an insider like Flournoy.

As an aside, do you think insulting, demeaning to discredit someone strengthens your position?

Once again, your cheerleading for Flourney ("has won a slew of medals for everything she had done...") rings of lines you are repeating from elsewhere.

elisa, Zionist interests first kicked in big time under President Wilson. Almost exacty 100 years ago, and accelerated under Truman in the late 40s and early 50s as the US Dept. of State was also completely purged of any possible "Arabists," -- as Golda Mier would refer to US foreign service professionals.

What precisely is the US policy to finance and sponsor the nationalist Zionist project intended to do for the US?

Eva, you've touched on something important and disturbing. That is, once US interests are mixed or confused with foreign nationalists interests, it is over for the the U.S.A. We may have reached that point. (Just think how dysfunctional and corrupted the political process has become in the US.) One thing for sure, the US has rapidly lost credibility and influence due to it's marriage with the Zionist enterprise. What is worth the price of that?

elisehendrick, makes correct arguments -- that the interests of earnings, powerful class steer public and economic policy. Sometimes more than others, but it is not that simplistic, and not only.....

The Zionist project is just one example of economic interests of an elite driving policy in the US and in Europe. But unlike US housing policy that feeds the pockets of a few, we haven't see self correction for a century. The corrupted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enterprises will not survive as we know them much longer.

The machine against Hagel is the most recent of many examples of non-US interests contaminating public discourse and policy and politicians.

And for a wise and honest interview of how it works and destruction it is wreaking onto the US and Israel (but please ignore the inflammatory headline, which has little to do with the essence of the interview):

from the wikipedia link:The Bnei Menashe believe that the traditional Mizo-Kuki-Hmar harvest festival song in the Hmar language, "Sikpui Hla (Sikpui Song)" which features events paralleled in the Book of Exodus, such as enemies chasing them over a red-coloured sea,[11] quails,[12] and a pillar of cloud [11] is clear evidence of their Israelite ancestry.

Do you think they also have the Jew Gene? You know, the genetic haploid sequence that are specific for only Jews and no one else?

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